Lista de Temas:1. Mountain of Horror (5:16)2. Let Your Devil Come Inside (3:23)3. Against the Curse, We Dream (6:25)4. When All Is Black (5:23)5. Into the Gates of Time (13:21)6. Haire Pneuma Skoteino (3:50)

Over the past handful of years retro in metal has been becoming a big thing. With the trash revival being bigger than I would have ever imagined and bands like Ghost, The Sword, and Opeth calling back to the 60′s and 70′s and the various styles of imaginative music that adorned that era. Genre bending in metal is also becoming all the more common with bands mixing and matching infinite styles of music with their music with great results. This has led to some of the most imaginative metal ever released. Taking the retro and genre bending approach, Greek band Hail Spirit Noir has burst onto the scene with the grooviest black metal album I’ve heard this year and possibly ever, Pneuma.

Reaching back for psychedelic sounds of the 60′s and the groove of the 70′s, Hail Spirit Noir concocts a rather unique style of black metal. Starting the album off with the song “Mountain of Horror” fuzzy distorted guitars and some mild atmospheric violins lay the initial tone as the raspy black metal vocals sing cultish lyrics akin to something that Ghost might write. What really brings this song to a whole new level is when they go for the blast section and a very Doors-like organ kicks in transforming this track into whirlwind of bong smoke and winter winds. As the end of the song approaches groovy vocal melodies, trippy organs, and headbanging riffing and rhythms bring things to a close on a very high note. And when I thought that this record couldn’t get any cooler, “Let Your Devil Come Inside” starts up.

Contrasting Jim Morrison style vocals with scratchy rasps is some kind of wicked black magic as it immediately enchanted me. Then the contrast of haunting violins and acoustic guitars, cheesy organ synths, and crusty guitars top things off and eventually goes off the deep end when the snappy melody breaks into glorious black metal discordance. ”Against the Curse, We Dream” takes a great old school rock and roll riff and adds the traditional black metal tone to it making for one of the most evil booty shaking riffs I’ve ever heard. The one-two beat really ups the fun of the song too. I definitely got a feel of The Misfits on the beginning of this song, but for all the cool and punky rhythms going on Hail Spirit Noir don’t forget that they are a black metal band and seamlessly work in the famous chaotic black metal sound and blast beats as the song progresses and changes tempos and moods. Yet another winning and delightful piece on the album.

The quirkiness continues on with “When All is Black” as somber clean vocals and eerie finger-picked acoustic guitar lines slowly transform into dirty metal madness. While it revels in cacophony, things somehow remain nice and fluent and shows great love for some old-school progressive rock. That love of prog-rock really shows up on the following 13 minute epic song “Into the Gates of Time” as some heavy King Crimson influences show up. Highly infectious melodies and ominous atmospheres make this track a joy to listen to. I loved the synthesizer work found here which gave nods to Pink Floyd and the lead guitar playing occasional blues licks really added tons of personality to the track. Often times when a band uses long spaces of time for ambient noise, such as the forest/cricket chirping found towards the end of the song, it is a big turn off for me, but Hail Spirit Noir uses that perfectly as the ambient sound drove me deeper into the trance they had already put me in. The ambiance slowly picks up adding a bit of anxiety before an acoustic guitar comes in and brings the track to a finish. Wonderful songwriting skill here!

The album closer is “Haire Pneuma Skoteino” and it comes of as the bands ‘band song’ with lyrics like “Rotten to the core. Hail spirit, spirit noir.” Again that psychedelic groove is in full effect as the “Inna Gadda Da Vida” groove rides out all the way to the end. Just a cool, creepy, and fun track and a hell of a way to end the album on a high note.

While only six songs running 38 minutes, there is enough quality content on here to justify purchasing this record. Along with Sigh this is one of the most unique albums you are bound to hear this year. The retro love and genre bending work perfectly together and this album is testament to how creative metal music can be. The dramatic and cheesy lyrics just make this record even more fun as you’ll end up being in the shower or car singing “Let your devil come inside. Let your soul fly up to the sky. The golden rod was made for you. Kill your mother while you’re still in her womb!”, lol. The analog recording works wonders for Pneuma really driving the retro and traditional black metal feel home at the same time. Seriously, check this record out if you’re itching for something different. Peace Love and Metal!!

As the years pass by, it seems like modern black metal can be distinctly broken up into two different categories. On one hand, you have countless young bands trying to re-create the magic of mid nineties' Mayhem and Darkthrone records, and on the other hand you have bands who are genuinely interested in bringing black metal to a whole new level of creativity - Hail Spirit Noir definitely belongs to the second category. If you don't believe me, just take a listen to what they've cooked up for their debut album, Pneuma. Hail Spirit Noir literally sounds like the result of a sixties' psychedelic rock group on a bad acid trip; everything from the vintage-sounding production, retro keyboard styles, and and progressive song structures brings us back to the golden age of psychedelic rock... except there's something different. Black metal-styled riffs, harsh vocals, and a twisted sense of melancholy somehow ended up in the mix, and the end result is unlike anything I've ever heard before. Although Hail Spirit Noir is anything but a 'traditional' black metal act, this debut is an essential purchase for open-minded fans of the genre. When the term progressive black metal is brought up, the likes of Enslaved, Wolves in the Throne Room, Shining, and Deathspell Omega are usually the first bands that come to mind - many other 'progressive' black metal groups tend to sound similar to at least one of the aforementioned pioneers, but that isn't at all the case with Hail Spirit Noir. In addition to the 'bad acid trip' comparison I made earlier, Pneuma sounds like what would happen if King Crimson got together with Darkthrone for a jam session. The mellotron-soaked style of eclectic prog rock pioneered by Robert Fripp seems like a major influence to Hail Spirit Noir, and the way they manage to also sneak in black metal sections and harsh vocals without ever skipping a beat is admirable. Everything about Pneuma's production just reeks of the late sixties', and I think that's what helps bridge the band's adventurous blend of progressive rock and black metal so well. Just listen to the 12 minute masterpiece "Into the Gates of Time" to hear how much the vintage production helps make Hail Spirit Noir's sound so successful. Pneuma is one of those albums that may be a bit difficult to grasp at first, but given the proper amount of time, it eventually reveals itself as a brilliant gem. Hail Spirit Noir have made one hell of a debut effort, and while I would've liked it to be a bit longer, this is a downright superb album. Fans of black metal, progressive rock, and experimental music in general should find plenty to enjoy here - this is one of early 2012's musical highlights for sure.

Just when you thought you've heard the weirdest music in the world, these Pink Floyd worshippers from Greece who also happen to love black metal dropped the most original metal album I've heard in a while. Okay, it's not original, it's been done to death since the 60s, since, yeah, Pink Floyd, and the whole love for classic rock thing's been Opeth's new flagship for the past few records and so on. But to this day nobody bothered to make it fun and just plain easy to digest, without skipping the complexities of such conflicting music styles. With funky classic keyboards, guitar solos that were clearly still inspired by Jimmy Page, and, surprise, black metal screams and blastbeats, this album drops any anger and kvlt theatrics other black metal bands have been tirelessly practising for years. Instead, it's laidback, trippy, and the kind that brings warm smiles during the cold holidays days ahead. What metal has clearly neglected for a very long time, in its persistent search for truth and breaking drumming speeds and over-the-top compositions, is some beautiful catchy melodies. Believe me when I say this album may even appeal to fans of radio pop music. The black metal aspect does its job of keeping the 60s music sections energetic and tapping on its affiliations with youth. Yes, this is simply rock n' roll carried forth to the future, with enough twist to seperate it from Pink Floyd copycats in the wrong time frame. The music isn't sterile in production, in fact, there is a soft hitting warmth to it that really enhances its trippy and happy-go-lucky atmospherics. The variety of instruments here is mind-boggling, but more importantly, tastefully implemented, not overdone, not randomly inserted for poseur's sake. The piano that completes the main riff in 'When All Is Black' is a good example of this, it is part of the song and adds a dash of classy mystery to what could be potentially idiotic song in the hands of a Satanic barbarian. 'Mountains Of Horror' ends with a sad guitar section but is coupled with nice untriggered double pedals that keep it refreshing but also emotionally complex, and the keyboards never ever let up, drenching every space it finds with melancholic dread or funk. Clean vocals start off 'Let Your Devil Come Inside' and it's icy, but nicely done without theatrics. My one complaint is the lack of hard metal elements, but hey, I listen to music, not just metal. I love this record.